On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization announced publicly that COVID-19 disease was officially a global pandemic. During the proceeding months, and as COVID-19 cases grew across the globe, a lot of speculation grew around the path of transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. To this day, there is still debate around the primary path of transmission, even though there are numerous studies and research professionals who suggest the virus can in fact be transmitted through the air.

In May of 2020, through the advice of ASHRAE, the Center for Disease Control announced publicly that the recommended filtration efficiency for public HVAC systems should be a minimum of MERV 13 in order to provide a safe environment. This announcement sparked an unprecedented demand for high-efficiency air filters without the preparedness of the air filtration industry, the nonwoven media suppliers and the facility engineers who were blind-sided by the HVAC system changes that would need to be made.

Now that the general population is aware that high-efficiency air filtration is crucial to the overall health of the building occupants, the air filtration industry as a whole will forever be driven towards delivering high-performance air filters to the market.